Tag Archives: Jesus’ Life Lesson

LIFESTYLE OF SERVICE

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A LIFESTYLE OF SERVICE

Jesus lifted up the value and importance of servant-hood, and called us to use whatever He has given us in service, especially service to the “least of these” (Matthew 25:40). Many think of Albert Schweitzer (medical care in Africa) and Mother Teresa (lepers in India) when the subject of servant-hood arises but there are a vast number of Christ’s servants who consistently minister to others’ needs under the radar- with no fanfare. Every definition of greatness our culture teaches centers in wealth, power, ability or name recognition. Vast majority of these people who seek this type of greatness discover its empty feeling and many times lack direction and even despair. God defines greatness in terms of service.

Read Mark 10:42-45 Redefine Greatness

There are a lot of standards for judging greatness, but there are two standards that are in stark contrast to each other. It should be no surprise that they are worldly standards (vv 35-40) and Heavenly standards (vv 41-45). Leading up to our focal verses James and John had worldly dreams of occupying the highest positions in Jesus’ kingdom. James & John, along with their mother (Matt. 20:20-21), showed they completely misunderstood the nature of the kingdom of God when they requested to be at the “right hand” and “left hand” of Jesus. Jesus graciously told the disciples that it was not His to give, but if their request had been taken literally, John & James would have occupied the other two crosses on Golgotha. Jesus was showing them what they should expect by asking questions of them (vv 35-40). (Jesus knew that James would experience an early martyr’s death and that John would have a long, service-filled life.)

When the other disciples learned what James and John had requested, they became very upset. So this brings us to the main verses. Jesus called all the disciples together to teach them about life among His followers – kingdom life. He drew a sharp contrast between pagan Gentile practices and what He expected from His people. For those who want to be great, Jesus said that you first must be a servant (v 43) and then to be the greatest of all, you need to be a slave of all people (v 44). Then for the first time in the book of Mark, Jesus interpreted the purpose of His life. He came to die in our place (v 45). So Jesus not only told the price of discipleship, He lived out discipleship for others to see as He followed the will of God. The disciples thought Jesus’ life and power would save them from Rome. (Jesus was saving them from sin, an even greater slavery than Rome.)

Read Matthew 25:19-21, 29 Seize Your Opportunities

Jesus told another parable to emphasize the importance of responsibly using one’s God-given gifts in the time before Christ’s return. This parable was telling His disciples what their responsibilities would be while awaiting His return. How specifically is the parable telling us that? (The wealthy man, in his absence, distributed his wealth to the slaves to ensure his business was conducted as usual.)The result was that slave who doubled the money clearly was doing things that made his master pleased. The one who just returned the one talent was not dishonest – just disobedient by thinking of himself. He failed to try!  Jesus is teaching that each individual is responsible for the use of only those gifts and abilities that God has given them. Some people have more gifts and abilities than others. So here is a very important concept- there should be no comparing of capabilities for service to God, only the best use of one’s own gifts, whether many or few. The parable describes the consequences of two attitudes toward Christ’s return. The person who diligently prepares for it by investing his or her time and talents to serve God will be rewarded. The person who has no heart for the work of the kingdom will be punished (they are not likely “saved”.)   God rewards faithfulness. Those who bear no fruit for God’s kingdom cannot expect to be treated the same as those who are faithful. God expects only what He has equipped us to do. So we must seize our opportunities to serve.

Read Matthew 25:34-40 Serve the Least of These

Here Jesus presented a picture of final accounting that will occur at His second coming in glory (31). From the “throne of His glory”, He will judge all nations (v 32). It is a vivid, poetic word picture foretelling the way Jesus will judge the world. God will separate His obedient followers from pretenders and unbelievers. We are told that the real evidence of our belief is in the way we act. The parable is verses 34-40 describe acts of mercy we all can do every day. They are simple acts freely given and freely received. Jesus describes Himself as the King, the judge and shepherd. So He will receive and commend His faithful people- those “blessed by my father”. Jesus will invite these to “inherit the kingdom” and enter fully into God’s reign in eternity. Jesus listed six ministry actions. What are they? (Feed the hungry, give the thirsty something to drink, take in a stranger, clothe some, tend to the sick, and visit those in prison.) It is clear that Jesus is telling all that to perform these acts of kindness for those in need is, in fact, performing them for Him.

The focus of this parable is that we should love every person and serve anyone we can.  Such love for others glorifies God by reflecting our love for Him. Our motivation for ministry is to serve Christ by serving others. Consistently ministering to others is evidence we view every life as important to God; thus every person is important to us. Look closely at the actions of Jesus’ genuine followers. First, their ministry actions were spontaneous. They kept no record of their good deeds. They served because they followed a servant Lord (Mark 10:45). Second, the actions were selfless. Christ’s people extended themselves and that they had with no thought of personal gain or reward. They helped people who could offer nothing in return. In addition, they expected no commendation from Christ for what they did. Finally, let’s define what Jesus said were “the least of these”. Among them are the unborn child, the homeless person, the pregnant teenager, the underprivileged mother, and the forgotten senior adult.   We have talked about how we could do some service to others. Well, just above is the list of specific people to whom we could consider providing help.

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REVELATION: DEMONS

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DEMONS

So, as was indicated in the previous article Satan is real!! Well, today we will look at the fact that demons are real. Both of these are scary topics that we normally would prefer to avoid. Many Christians would even prefer to hide from the reality of evil in the world. Hiding from the evil does not diminish the reality of evil. What we find to be a wiser approach is to be aware of who it is who seeks to do us harm. We stand by knowing who it is we are standing against. We need to stand against Satan and his demons when we stand in Christ, the one who defeated our greatest enemy. We had just studied when and how Jesus removed the many demons from one man who was being controlled by this evil spirit recorded in Mark 5. Jesus is greater than any spiritual power and He said He has given us all authority in Him to defeat the enemy.

Read Mark 9:17-22a

Peter, James and John had just experienced the “transfiguration” of Jesus when they accompanied Jesus to the top of the mountain. Jesus had promised His disciples that He would return in glory after His death, but Peter and James, and John got a preview of that glory in the transfiguration experience. When Jesus was transformed, the disciples literally saw Him in a new light of heavenly glory. Then Elijah and Moses reappeared just as mysteriously as they had left the earthly scene. Why these two? Perhaps it was because Moses commonly represented the Law, and Elijah stood for the Prophets. Into that spiritual summit there came the voice of God to claim Jesus as Son and to approve His ministry (1:9-11). For Jesus, the experience was further preparation for the cross (Luke 9:31) and reassurance of His divine Sonship.

With Elijah there and Moses, too, Peter must have thought the kingdom had come in its completeness. Whatever he thought, he wanted to build three booths or shelters. But a cloud enclosed Jesus, Elijah, and Moses. And God’s voice reaffirmed that Jesus was His Divine Son and told the disciples to listen to Him. Jesus had said for those with ears to hear (4:9,23; 8:18); now God reinforce that command. Every Christian has the promise of a future transfiguration. Interestingly enough, the Greek word for transfiguration (v.2) is applied in Romans 12:1-2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18 to obedient Christians who let God transform their lives. ‘

Once more Jesus descended to the surroundings of frail mankind. The scene was    disheartening powerless disciples, arguing scribes, and a brokenhearted father with an epileptic son. The boy reportedly had an evil spirit (demon), and the symptoms came out in the form of epilepsy. That was the scene when Jesus came down from the glory of the transfiguration. The details of this even contrast messiahship and discipleship.

When Jesus, Peter, James, and John came down to join the other disciples, they were met heby the disciples, scribes, and a crowd that seemingly sensed that Jesus would settle an argument. Jesus’ question in verse 16 could have been directed to the disciples, the scribes, or the crowd as a whole. The question was: “What is all of this arguing about?” Before a disciple or a scribe could answer the question, a troubled father said, in effect: “I’m responsible. I brought my son to you for healing. You were one, so I appealed to your disciples who were supposed to have your authority to cast out demons and heal. But they were powerless. That’s when the argument began”. The argument may have been about how to cast out demons or who had the authority to cast out demons. The disciples’ failure was striking in view of the authority of Jesus had given them earlier (6:7, 13). While Jesus had been gone, the disciples were unable to heal, and they probably were unable to hold their own in a debate with the scribes; so, the situation was embarrassing for them. No wonder Jesus was dismayed with the lack of faith of the disciples matched by the unbelief of the crowds who then ordered the boy to be brought to Him (v.19).

The picture of the demon-possessed boy and his father was pathetic. From childhood, the boy had these symptoms unable to speak and hear (vv. 17-26), convulsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, grinding his teeth, and rigid or exhausted. Whenever the seizures would come, the boy’s life was endangered by demon’s plan of plunging the boy into fire or water. (The image of God was distorted in this person, and Satan would have liked to destroy it altogether.)

Read Mark 9:22b-27

For years, the boy had required twenty-four-hour watch care. No wonder the father said, “But if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us” (v. 22). The implication was, “Your disciples are powerless; but if you have any power, help us!” Jesus immediately set the record straight. His power was not in question; the man’s lack of faith was the problem (v.23). The man had had some faith, or he would not have brought his boy to Jesus. But when Jesus pointed to faith as the missing quality, the father didn’t argue. He prayed, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (v.24). Jesus healed the boy once and for all and showed that salvation is for all of life as well as for death. The boy lay as peacefully after the convulsive spirit left him as if he were dead. But Jesus lifted him to life- almost as a preview of final death and resurrection.

Privately, the disciples wanted to know why they hadn’t been able to cast out the demon. Though Jesus had grown weary of their lack of faith (v.29; also see 4:40; 6:50.52; 8:17-21), they were still learners; and He was still their Master Teacher. Jesus explained that this kind of demon could be driven out only by prayers of faith (vv. 19. 29). The best ‘t manuscripts do not include fasting as a requirement for casting out demons. Jesus did not have to fast to cast out the demon, and He had exempted the disciples from any need to fast while He was with them (2:18-22).

So, why couldn’t the disciples cast out the evil spirit? In 6:13, we read that they cast out demons while on their mission to the villages. Perhaps they had special authority only for that trip, or perhaps their faith was faltering now. Mark tells this story to show that the battle with Satan is a difficult, ongoing struggle. Victory over sin and temptation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, not through our own efforts. This faith must be ongoing, renewed, and strengthened.

Jesus’ words do not mean that we can automatically obtain anything we want if we just think positively (there is a person on TV that seems to be saying this). Jesus meant that anything is possible if we believe, because nothing is too difficult for God. We cannot have everything we pray for as if by magic, but with faith, we can have everything we need to serve Him.

Read Mark 9:28-29

The attitude of trust and confidence that the Bible calls “belief or faith” (Hebrews 11:1, 6) is not something we can obtain without help. Faith is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). No matter how much faith e have, we never reach the point of being self-sufficient. Faith is not stored away like money in the bank. Growing in faith is a constant process of daily renewing our trust in Jesus. The disciples would often face difficult situations that could be resolved only through prayer. Prayer is the key that unlocks faith in our life. Effective prayer needs both the attitude of complete dependence and the action of asking. Prayer demonstrates our reliance on God as we humbly invite Him to fill us with faith and prayer. There is no substitute for prayer, especially in circumstances that that seem impossible.

This incident proved that only lack of faith and lack of prayer hinder man’s full deliverance. When faith is not what it should be, we need to pray for a better quality of faith. Further, a person with real faith will not set a limit on God’s power that is available in Jesus. So, the only real answer in facing any demon is to call on God for even more faith. Furthermore, we cannot live the Christian life well without a full, continuing commitment to Christ through faith and dependence upon Him alone.

MYSTERY OF MENTAL ILLNESS

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MYSTERY IN THE FACE OF MENTAL ILLNESS
Mental illness can be disguised as invisible wounds. Mental illness can take many forms, the most common is depression but there are other forms of emotional problems. When the problems that we or others face are physical concerns, we typically know how better to pray for and minister to those. However, it is much harder to assist with those with mental illness and this becomes a real struggle. We need not ignore, look the other way, or even worse, denigrate persons with mental and emotional struggles. We hear about so many of these emotional, mental struggles from returning service personnel. It becomes clear that God’s people are to care for those suffering from mental illness, whenever possible. The setting of this lesson is about Corinth where Paul had spent considerable time. Shortly after Paul left Corinth, the church fellowship fragmented and sinful behavior was rampant. There was a lot of concern that some emotional/mental problems were the cause of much of the problem.
Read 2 Corinthians 1:2-3
Paul had founded the Corinthian church during his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1-17), but his relationship with the Corinth believers was troubled. Pride, arrogance, egotism, and emotional concerns replaced the fruit of the Spirit among many believers. Paul was writing to correct the situation but his initial efforts were not very successful. So, 2 Corinthians was another attempt to help the healing and restoration of relationships. This Book of 2 Corinthians is actually the fourth letter that Paul wrote to Corinth. 1 Corinthians 5:9 reflected upon an earlier letter sent from Paul. That letter has been lost. Paul’s second letter is actually what we refer to as 1 Corinthians. Paul wrote 2 Corinthians around AD 55-56 from Macedonia. He was responding to opponents questioning His apostolic authority I Corinth but it included thoughts addressed to the region of Achaia, the Roman providence south of Macedonia.
In all his letters, Paul replaced the usual Greek word for “greeting” with a similar word meaning “grace”. It was a major theme for Paul and certainly one of the great words of the New Testament. Referring to all that God does to save sinners “grace” indicates unmerited favor. God gives this undeserved gift because of His love and His sovereign power. Paul was making yet another case that all can only receive salvation by faith. Paul used a common Jewish greeting- “peace”- that had deeper meaning in the New Testament. Originally it meant freedom from conflict both internal and external. In this sense, it is the opposite of the feeling Paul expressed in 2 Corinthians 7:5: “Our bodies had no rest but we were afflicted at every turn- fighting without and fear within”. In all of its full sense, it describes all the blessings of salvation.
This shows the rich meaning and intense feeling that characterizes 2 Corinthians. Paul was describing both comfort and suffering. The emphasis is on God and “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Paul wrote that God is “the Father of mercies”, which is the Hebrew way of saying merciful father, and as “the God of all comfort”, the one whose comfort meets every need. Mental illness often includes a desperate longing for peace. The church confronts mental illness in its commitment to the Great Commission. The gospel we can and should proclaim will give access to genuine peace both on earth and throughout eternity.
Read 2 Corinthians 1:4-5
How can some physical illness affect mental state? (Depression, irritability, stress, and not being independent.) Paul may have thought about Isaiah 40:1 here, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God”. Of course, many think that when God comforts us, our troubles should go away. But if that were always so, people would turn to God only out of desire to be relieved of pain and not out of love for Him. Sometimes, we really have to spot and think a bit deeper about some of the way God works. We must understand that being “comforted” can also man receiving strength, encouragement, and hope to deal with our troubles. The more we suffer the more comfort God gives us. If we feel overwhelmed, allow God to comfort us. Remember that every trial we endure will help us comfort other people who are suffering similar troubles. So what are some of the ways we can share Christ’s comfort with others? (Understanding, listening, love, do something for them, give them a gift, and to know where they stand with Christ.)
Suffering for Christ refers to those afflictions we experience as we serve Christ. At the same time, Christ suffers with His people, since they are united with Him. In Acts 9:4-5, Christ asked Paul why he was persecuting Him. This implies that Christ suffered with the early Christians when they were persecuted. This is the thought behind Paul’s expression in verse 5- “The sufferings of Christ, overflows to us”. So we are able to comfort others due to this overflow from Christ. In Colossians 1:24, Paul wrote of his sufferings completing what was lacking from Christ’s afflictions for the church. Scholars often refer to these as “the woes of the Messiah”, the suffering ordained by God for the church to endure before the second coming of Jesus. Another opinion is Paul had in mind the atoning suffering of Jesus on the behalf of believers. Both thoughts have value and both could be valid- since the church is the people. Regardless, through Christ, Paul’s comfort overflows and we, too, may overflow comfort to others. In Romans 8:18, Paul proclaims, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us”.
Read 2 Corinthians 1:6-7
Paul firmly believed that suffering is a part of ministry. This led him to point to his own suffering to provide an example for the Corinthians and to witness to God’s deliverance. Something terrible had happened to him in Asia (Roman providence around Ephesus). No details are given but the best theory is that Paul was referring to some serious physical threat. The Books of Acts (written by Luke) refers to many of Paul’s brushes with death, but this seems to be yet another one that Paul experienced. It may have been an attack on his ministry at Ephesus (Acts 19:21-20:1; 20:19; 1 Corinthians 15:32) or some later crisis. Clearly, his life was in danger. Such a crisis had a purpose for one who lived by faith. It led Paul to trust God, not himself. A man has no power in the face of death, God is the one “who raises the dead” (v.9). God delivered Paul from death that time and would again.
Suffering- especially trials and discomfort associated with the advancement of Christ’s kingdom- is God’s was of allowing Christians to become more like Jesus, to suffer for the gospel just as Jesus suffered for it (Philippians 1:29, 3:10). Peter agreed with Paul that Christians should rejoice when they suffer, for in their own suffering they will in some small was experience what it meant for Jesus to suffer for their sins (1 Peter 4:12-13). In addition to drawing people closer to Christ, suffering can also help them grow in their faith. In Romans, Paul noted that suffering produces perseverance, which in turn produces Christian character (Romans 5:3-4; James 1:3; 4:2; Peter 1:6; Revelations 2:2, 19). (For me only- there are times when I believe that I have enough “character”.) However, this passage highlights another benefit to suffering. It teaches the sufferer how to encourage others who are also suffering, even if the two incidents are not the same. It can even help others to identify some mental concerns and seek some help.

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